1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer enclosure, and particularly to a computer enclosure for exclusively mounting two different sized switching power supplies.
2. The Related Art
A power supply in a computer system is used for transforming the voltage value of local electrical power to an operational voltage for the computer system. For instance, local electrical power generally is an alternating current with a voltage value between 100 and 250 Volts. The electrical power used in a computer system is a direct current with a voltage usually under 12 Volts. Therefore, the local electrical power can not be used in the computer system directly. A switching power supply transforms the local electrical power and provides the computer system with a proper operational voltage. The switching power supply also distributes the electrical power to sub systems of the computer requiring different voltage levels, such as a CD-ROM drive, a floppy disk drive, a hard disk drive and a fan.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional computer enclosure 10 includes a rear panel 12 defining an opening 14 in an upper portion thereof for mounting a switching power supply 16 therein. The power supply 16 has a socket 18 and a plurality of venting holes 20 exposed to the opening 14. Several holes 22 are defined proximate the opening 14 and are aligned with corresponding holes 24 of the power supply 16 for screwing and fixing the power supply 16 to the computer enclosure 10. A supporting bracket 26 extending from an edge of the opening 14 supports the power supply 16. However, the conventional computer enclosure 10 can only accommodate a power supply of one predetermined size. Another power supply having a different dimension can not be mounted to the computer enclosure 10.
In the SFX Power Supply Design Guide, Version 1.0 Release, three kinds of power supplies having different dimensions are introduced, to be used with a Micro ATX motherboard. The power supply of a first dimension having a rectangular face with a width of 50 mm and a length of 100 mm is mated with the corresponding opening of the computer enclosure. The power supply of a second dimension has a rectangular mating face with a width of 63.5 mm and a length of 100 mm. The third power supply has a mating face with a width of 63.5 mm and a length of 113 mm. According to the specification of the Micro ATX motherboard, three different computer enclosures are needed for mounting the three different power supplies.
Conventional computer enclosures, such as the one shown in FIG. 1, can only mount one kind of power supply thereto. For mounting three different kinds of power supplies, three different computer enclosures are needed. Thus, three different kinds of tooling and molds are required for manufacturing the different computer enclosures. Under the same motherboard specifications, the three enclosures are slightly different regarding the power supply supporting bracket and the rear panel, which increases costs. Hence, a computer enclosure, which can exclusively mount different power supplies by means of a small modification of the enclosure, is requisite.